Rebuilding
by CheekyOwl
Summary: Continued after the ending. Shepard is in a coma, contact has been made with civilizations outside of the Sol Relay, tension is building between the turians and the quarians over what food there is in Earth's system, and the normandy is stuck remotely.
1. The Choice

_***Authors note. Hello! This is my first fic. Written to give me some closure on the ending (I guess technically there were multiple ones.) of Mass Effect 3. I am still toying with the idea that since all the best scientists and a bunch of dead reapers are all in the Sol system that we could repair the relays... please give me your thoughts on this. I don't want it to be too wild.***_

* * *

The doctors continued their work on the unconscious war hero. They had found him in the rubble near death, the implants in his body destroyed. It was miraculous that he was still alive, still breathing. Still had a heartbeat. The machines beeped with new readings on his vitals and anatomical information. The man's eyes flickered open. He gazed at the rubble seen through the hospital window, at the soldiers celebrating while the more astute were looking worried, gazing into the sky. His eyes rolled back into his head as he passed out again.

* * *

_The Citadel_

Shepard looked at this boy, this catalyst. He doubted the judgement that synthetics would eventually destroy organics, with his thoughts resting on how he had made peace between the quarians and the geth, and how EDI was a faithful crew mate just like any of the organics with him. The catalyst had mentioned that the relays would be destroyed, no matter what he chose to do. He considered merging organics with synthetics, but he doubted that would bring any peace. Humans had fought wars with humans, turians with turians, salarians with salarians. Why, even the geth had fought each other with the heretics and geth destroying or re-writing one another. Diversity was what made this cycle great. The protheans didn't have it, and they fell. If Shepard erased diversity, it wouldn't answer anything. He turned towards the boy.

"What happens if I destroy the reapers?" He asked.

"If you choose to destroy them, all synthetic life will be destroyed and the relays will no longer function." All synthetic life will be destroyed. Shepard was having a hard time mulling over this thought, and he knew he was running out of time. Soon, his fleet would be destroyed if he didn't face this ultimatum. He approached the tube that was controlling the reapers, pistol ready. He loved EDI and the geth, but, unfortunately for them, Shepard would always see organic life as a higher priority than AI. His friends that had helped him to this point flashed in his mind as he pulled the trigger. He pulled it again, and again, and again, pulling harder each time with anger over what this war had brought. That stupid boy. He thought, the catalyst was using circular logic and forcing Shepard into something that would ruin the galaxy, but also free it.

* * *

_Citadel Ruins_

Shepard hobbled through the ruins of the presidium. He couldn't feel any part of his body, but through his hazy vision he could see the dark trail of blood he was leaving. He continued limping on, growing weaker by the second. He sat down underneath an balcony that overlooked the council's stage. The second he passed out was the second that the balcony crumbled above him.

* * *

_***It's a little short, I know, but I plan to go 3 or 4 chapter or just whenever I feel that it is completed. Yes, I got the Shepard Breath ending, so I wanted to clear up a bit how he got in that mess. If you liked it, please review. I am open to constructive criticism, in fact I would very much appreciate it as I plan to write more in the future. Also, as I stated before I would like to know if it seems like to much to have the relays repaired. Thanks for reading!***_


	2. Contact

_**Authors note. Thank you potnoodle11, for my first review. When I loaded it up I was expecting something telling me to give up, but you really made my day! Also, I realized you favorited. I'm in love with you right now. Anyhow, here comes the story!**_

_Sol System_

The large armada Shepard had assembled were cheering when the reapers fell. It was soon realized that the relay had been destroyed, and then the cheering turned to panic. Everyone was worried about being trapped on Earth, and they were surprised to see that the geth ships had mysteriously shut-down when the reapers did. The turians, however, had other things to worry about.

Primarch Victus looked concerned while sitting in the bridge of the turian cruiser. The turian fleet didn't have an unlimited supply of food, and they were not counting on the relay to be destroyed. There was no source of food within the entire Sol system. He thought. Except... He pushed the thought from his mind. He was considering the quarian liveships, as they undoubtedly grew food aboard them. Food that the turians could eat. But he would cross that bridge when he came to it. He didn't want to risk any hostilities with the quarians just yet.

Many technical ships from every fleet were rushing to the comm-buoys, and many of them had been repaired. The problem was, they weren't getting a signal from anywhere else, which means that the comm-buoys and relays weren't just destroyed here... they were destroyed everywhere. The entire galaxy was cut off from each other.

Lieutenant Gary Benson was the commanding officer aboard a small ship of engineers, like him. They had repaired a comm-buoy and were attempting to communicate with anyone outside the Sol system. There were no results, when suddenly, the light came green for a salarian buoy, outside Sur'Kesh. Excited, Benson hailed them. There was intense static, but he could here a voice on the other end.

"-llo? Is anyon-ving this? This is-Kesh command. The- were deactivated. W-have won!"

Benson almost cried into the communicator. "Sur'Kesh command, this Lieutenant Benson, 23rd engineer corps. We receive you. The crucible worked. It's over."

"hear you. There- intense static, we almost cannot- derstand you. Is it tr- The crucible worked?"

"Yes! The crucible worked. The relay here has been destroyed, I repeat, the relay here has been destroyed, how is the situation there?" Gary waited with baited breath. "Someone patch us through to Admiral Hackett. Tell him we have contact with the salarians."

"The relays-troyed here too. there-red beam"

"Someone clear up this signal!" Gary yelled. One of the engineers that was listening intently snapped himself out of it, and ran to get rid of the static.

"Can you repeat that?" Gary was afraid of what the salarian was about to say. "The relays were destroyed?"

The salarian with Sur'Kesh command came through much clearer now.

"Yes, the relay was destroyed here too. There was a beam of red that caused it to implode. What are the casualties in the Sol system?"

Gary replied glumly, saddened by the fact that they now knew all the relays were destroyed. "We lost a good third of the fleet, but commander Shepard was able to activate the relays in time."

"Where is Shepard now?" The salarian asked.

"He's in a coma. Being taken care of by doctors on Earth. They found him in the rubble with the implants keeping him alive destroyed. That's about all I know. Should I patch you through to Admiral Hackett? I'm just an engineer, you should probably speak to someone who knows what's really going on."

Admiral Hackett had listened intently at what the salarians told him, and he told him everything he knew as well. Apparently the salarians held out as long as they could, and were ready to except the extinction of their race right as the reapers deactivated. Much of Sur'Kesh was rubble, but the salarian government had been re-established and their people were rebuilding. They had repaired their comm-buoys, just as the alliance had, and now both of them were attempting to contact everyone they knew. They attempted contact with Dekuuna, the elcor homeworld, Kahje, where the drell and hanar resided, Thessia and Palaven, homes of the asari and turians, respectively. They tried the batarian homeworld, and every colony in between. They even attempted contacting the vorcha, but in every system the comm-buoys were still offline. Admiral Hackett sighed as he ordered the teams to continue trying. It was all they could do.

_Sol System_

_3 months later_

Primarch Victus was sweating. They had just moved on to emergency rations, and many smaller turian ships were already out and requesting food from the larger, better equipped, cruisers. The reason he was sweating, was because of the angry questioning he was receiving from one of his officers, Executor Jatius. His rants were bordering on insubordination, and if Victus didn't do something quickly he knew he would have a mutiny on his hands. He knew that the quarians had food, but what Jatius was suggesting was preposterous. A raid on the quarian ships? Even Jatius must know that was insane, but, nevertheless, many of his soldiers and lower-ranking officers were backing him.

"Are you so blind that you do not realize your people are starving?" Jatius yelled. "The quarians have food that we need. We deserve those rations! Allow me to raid the ships!"

"Absolutely not!" Victus answered. "We have just finished one war. I will not allow you to start another! I will negotiate with the quarians. We shall have food. And if this ever happens again, Jatius, I'll have you thrown out the nearest airlock for mutiny and insubordination!" He shouted, standing up from his chair and jabbing a finger into Jatius's chest. Jatius stormed off angrily, down the hall out of the bridge. Victus sighed as he sat back down, and contacted the quarian admirals. He was surprised to see that on the vid-call the admiral did not have a mask on. It was the first time Victus had seen an unmasked quarian, so it was shocking. The quarian's eyes were very bright, and his skin was a pale yellow, almost like the humans', but still very different. He had dark brown-gray spots originating on the back of his neck, and going down it in a spiral patter from both sides.

"Primarch Victus?" The quarian admiral said, his voice not being vibrated by the masks. "This is Admiral Gerrel. Is there something you need?"

Victus cleared his throat. "Yes, admiral. I would like to schedule a meeting with you and the other admirals to discuss sharing the liveships' food."

"Okay, I can see to that. You will have permission to come aboard with your officers." Gerrel replied.

"Thank you. Admiral?" He said before the quarian shut down communications. "Your mask... you aren't wearing it."

"The geth gave us upgrades that allow us to effectively vaccinate ourselves to our surroundings. It take a few months, but most of us have been able to remove our masks. We will, of course, have to have them on for the meeting with you, as your bodies may contain contaminants we cannot resist yet."

"Ah. I see. Thank you for your co-operation, admiral." Victus said. He shut down the communication with the quarian admiral. He busied himself with finding something to offer the quarians something in return for food. He had a meeting to attend to.

_*though I am not sure why, that chapter was extremely fun to write. I based the quarians' features after that lazily photo-shopped picture that Tali leaves for you. I will be getting to what happened to the Normandy soon, so don't worry. I am aware that I said I would do 3-4 chapters... screw it. I'm going to keep this going until everything has been answered. So through in your doubts. This thing's gonna end with shepard adoptin' some kids, dang it! Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed, and I want to thank my family fathers, earthly and not, for helping me through the hard times in my life. Thank you everbody! By the way, what's gonna happen with Jatius and the quarians? Is this... foreshadowing? Dun dun dun! :D_


	3. Tension

_**Hey guys. Author's note time. Once this baby hits 6000 words, I would love to beta-read for any of you. I'm really interested in checkin' out your stories, so just tell me if you want my services. Anyhow, in this chapter, Sh** gets real. Maybe there's some love too.**_

_London, Earth_

Shepard's eyes opened. He looked all around him, seeing machines and doctors rushing around, while other soldiers died in other operating rooms. Why were they wasting so much time on him? If Shepard were able to talk, he would have told them to save the other soldiers. He couldn't see anyone he knew there. Doctor Chakwas? No. It wasn't her. He had just mistaken another lady in a lab coat for her. His head ached. He soon lost consciousness again, his head falling down onto the pillow.

_Sol System_

_23rd Engineer Corps Sloop_

Almost the entire armada that had come to Earth had been retrieving pieces of the relay, and tugging them back to where they belonged. With the best scientists in the galaxy all here, Gary was sure that they could repair the relay. And if they could, maybe they could coach the salarians through doing it too. Benson's ship was busy scavenging the reaper 'corpses' for pieces they could use to repair the relay. It was tedious work, and also very scary. They had sent ground teams inside the reapers, and though they knew that everything was dead and that indoctrination would not work, it was still very scary wading through corpses of husked batarians inside the dark machine. Benson was about to assemble with a small squad to enter a derelict reaper. His two best soldiers met him at the airlock. Corporal Josh Reader, and Private Sara Williams.

Gary felt for Sara. Her sister had given her life a few years ago to ensure that Saren's base on Virmire had been destroyed. She enlisted with the engineer corps right out of high school, so she was still very young. She was, however, a very great fighter, as Gary had seen when she sparred with others. He wondered where she had learned it.

The airlock closed behind them. It was very dark inside the reaper's shell, and they activated the flashlights on their rifles. They quietly trudged through the dark halls, stepping over cannibals and husks as they went. They saw a husked turians and asari throughout the ship as well. He could here Williams begin to breathe heavily in fear. Corporal Reader put his hand on her shoulder, steadying her. She nodded and looked ahead. They were almost to the power source of the reaper, which is what the scientists had asked them to retrieve. If they could find an intact reaper drive core the relays might have a chance at being repaired.

As the entered the engine room. Their eyes lit up with ecstasy. The drive core was still giving off a faint glow. Unlike the dozens of other reapers they had entered, this one was still working. It was weakened, definitely, but with enough juice it might just be what they need. He radioed his ship, the _Firefly_. His daughter had named the ship, and she was okay on Earth with her mother. He was grateful for that.

"Be ready for pickup. I think we might have what we need." He said.

"Yes sir. Will be waiting at the extraction point." His pilot replied.

_Sol system_

_23rd Engineer Corps Sloop, Firefly_

Josh Reader walked down the hall in the crew quarters toward Sara's room. They had been talking frequently since meeting each other, and Josh sensed a mutual attraction between them. He knocked on Sara's door, and she opened it, greeting him with a smile.

"That was something, inside the reaper today." She said as she closed the door behind him. "The drive core, I mean. Do you think we can repair the relays?"

"I dunno. It sure seems like a longshot, but it's something to hope for." He said. Taking a seat at the foot of her bed. She was standing up, drinking a cup of coffee. Josh couldn't help but admire her. She was very beautiful.

"Why are you staring at me?" She said laughing, putting the coffee down. "Thanks for steadying me back there, Josh."

"Huh?" He said, snapping out of the trance he was in.

"Back on the reaper, when I slowed down, you helped me." She said grinning.

"Oh, yeah. No problem."

"You know, it used to be my sister doing that for me." She said with a sad smile. "You know, before she, uh, died." Josh looked at her with sympathy, but she shook her head at the ground. "I had a boyfriend named Mike. He tried to go too fast with me and my sister supported me the whole time. When it came down to it though, I took care of Mike myself. Punched him right in the face."

"You are a good fighter." Josh said. They both looked into each other's eyes. No more words need to be said. She pounced on Josh as he fell back onto the bed. They kissed each other deeply as he undid her shirt. They fell asleep inside one another's arms that night.

When Josh awoke, Sara had already re-dressed and was drinking another coffee, while reading from a datapad. Josh got up and began to pick up his clothes that were strewn about the room. She sipped her coffee as he zipped up the last piece of his suit. "Hey," She said. "What do you think of Benson?"

"He's our commanding officer. He's always seemed to care about his crew. Why?" He asked walking over to her. She was reading up on Gary's files.

"It says he has a wife and daughter on Earth, but he stays here on this ship."

"He probably wants to help. His wife and daughter don't have much to live for right now."

"Yeah, I guess you are right. He's always been good to me and the rest of the crew, hasn't he." Josh nodded. "I'd best get back to my bunk before we are caught. I'll see you later, Sara." He left the room and started down the hall when another soldier, and a friend of his, came up to him. He attempted a high-five with Reader.

"Hey man! We heard that last night. Were you two sparrin' or somethin'?" He said laughing. "Must've been an intense match, am I right!" He nudged Reader, who let out a chuckle.

"Oh, leave me alone, Fred." He said. He walked back to his quarters, Frederick Rabledo bumping him and making jokes the whole way.

_Quarian Command Ship_

_Admiralty Board_

Jatius eyed the ship as they entered. Sizing it up. He and Victus, along with some other high-ranking officers, had come aboard to discuss an offer for food. Jatius was mad. He knew the quarians were weak. Why couldn't they just take what they needed? The quarians could grow more later. He sighed angrily as they approached the admiralty board.

Victus took a seat and began the negotiation.

"Admirals." He said in the most compelling voice he could muster. "As you know we are here to negotiate the trading of turian weapons for food that is being grown here on the liveships."

The quarian admiral Daro'Xen answered him. "Primarch, our hearts go out to the turian soldiers, but I'm afraid we have no use for weapons at this time. Currently, we are trapped inside a friendly system surrounded by an armada of allies. And with the reapers dead, weapons would be of little use."

Admiral Koris piped up. "However, to show our sympathy, the admiralty board has agreed to extend a sixth of our crops to the turian fleet."

Jatius shouted in fury. "That's not enough! We demand a half of the quarians' food and supplies!"

Victus eyed Jatius. "Calm down! It is not your decision, Jatius." He said. "Respectfully, admirals, the turians are going to die without that food. Please reconsider, we could survive with a third, or maybe even a fourth."

"I'm sorry Primarch, but even with a sixth gone we will have to ration our food carefully to be able to feed all of us. There are children and families aboard these liveships, Primarch. I'm afraid that a sixth is all we will be able to extend towards you." Daro'Xen replied.

Victus, defeated, admitted thanks and returned towards his ship.

"Executor Jatius, is the mission a go?"

"Yes, strike teams. They were unwilling to share and Victus seems content to let us starve. Begin the attack."

_*DUN DUN DUN! hahaha. I was considering making it be Gary who would have this relationship with Sara, Ashley's little sister that she talks about. I have never had Ashley survive to the third game, so if she gives any updates on what Sara did with her life I'm really sorry. I'm basing it off of what she tells us in the first one, so yeah. Anyway, It was going to be Gary because I felt there could be some character development there, with him dealing with cheating on his wife while out in the battle, but I didn't want him to come across as an $$hole, which he probably would due to my amateur writing. I guess now I'm going for a father figure type thing. Sigh. It's gonna be a tough one. Thank you everyone who reads. You are the best!_

_And... I just realized I forgot to write about the normandy in that chapter... YOU WILL SEE IT! I PROMISE!_


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